CHAPTER 2 BEGINNING OF CIVILIZATION By Patricia Brownlee 6 th Grade World History

What is the definition of a civilization?

Civilization is …(copy def.)  an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government has been reached. those people or nations that have reached such a state.

SECTION 1: EARLY AGRICULTURE (the Science of farming & animals)  Image taken from: oregonstate.edu Image taken from: factsanddetails.com

The Birth of Farming In the Paleolithic Era people lived as hunter-gathers. They lived a nomadic lifestyle, in which they moved from place to place. 10,000 years ago there was a drastic change in the way people lived their lives. They stopped living a nomadic life- style and started settling in one place. This period became known as the Neolithic Era. The Neolithic Era brought one of the greatest revolutions-FARMING! Image taken from: heritageofjapan. wordpress.com

Agriculture  the science, art, or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock and in varying degrees the preparation and marketing of the resulting products.  Root word = agri = land or farm

Changes in Climate and Changes in Lifestyle  12,000 years ago, the last Ice Age ended. This was the ending of many things. Plants and most animals adapted to the change, but not all animals survived.  People adapted to the environment by eating more plants and small animals. People living by lakes began depending more on fishing for their food source. People also realized that if they spread seeds on the floor that given time, they will grow into food products. Image taken from:ctgreenscene.typepad.com

Domesticating Plants and Animals and New Tools!  Over time people started domesticating plants and animals, which means to change the growth of plants or behaviors of animals in ways that are helpful to humans.  Over time people were able to domesticate dogs, plants, horses, oxen, sheep, and llamas.  The Neolithic Era also brought new tools. Farmers invented new tools to make farming easier. Some of the tools they invented were axes, sickles, stone querns, and hand mills.

FYI – Dinosaurs died out 60 million years ago!

The Spread of Farming Image taken from: oncoursesystems.com The trail of farming started in Asia to Africa, to Europe, to Indus River Valley, to South Asia. Farming in the Americas started with the domestication of gourds in present day Mexico. In South America, farming began with growing potatoes, beans, and Squash. Africa- farming began with crops such as sorghum and yams. Asia became the first center of agriculture.

Cost & Benefits of F arming Benefits- produced more food, required less land than hunting, allowed for permanent homes, allowed for villages to prosper, provided new materials for clothing. Image taken from: springfreetrampoline.com Cost Deforestation, erosion, time consuming, usage of immense energy, crop failure, family starving.

New Ways of Living Shelter-Farmers found different ways to built homes that included roofs, kitchen, and storage areas. One of the oldest villages was Catalhoyuk. Farming and Clothing- Farming allowed for early people to have more choices when it came to clothing. Cotton and flax allowed for lighter easier clothing. Surplus and Organization-Due to the increase in food production villages grew larger. This increase in food production also allowed for people to specialize in specific things, such as tool making, pottering, weaving, and metal working. Social Organization- Archaeologist have found that in early villages the concept of social standings did not exist, because all village homes were about the same size. They also found that with the existence of communities people were able to acquire more possessions.

CITIES AND CIVILIZATIONS Image is an artist view of what the city of Uruk looked like. Image taken from: garone.net

The First Cities * The first villages began in the Middle East. * Trading was a great source of wealth for villages. * Uruk- World first city. Created 6,000 to 7,000 years ago. More than 40,000 people lived there. Covered an area of 1,000 acres. Uruk had houses, gardens, and a large public area. Ancient Mesopotamia, where Uruk was located. Image taken from: history.knoji.com * Uruk’s governmental decisions were made in traditional ancient village customs. In which the city counsel made decisions and settled disputes. *Uruk became one of the greatest centers of wealth do to it’s economy. Uruk’s economy included farming and trading, which was a first for the time. *As a security precaution, Uruk built a wall to Keep out envaders.

The Rise of Civilizations  As cities were growing in size, civilizations were arising.  A civilization is a complex society that has cities, a well organized government, and workers that specialize in specific jobs.  The success rate of civilizations depended on the cities abilities to create a surplus of food. Acquiring a surplus of food required that resources. The resources needed were fertile soil, fresh water, and seeds.  The earliest civilizations appeared in the city-state of Sumer. It was very common and beneficial for civilizations to arise by river valleys. Civilizations arose by river valleys, because the river provided means of transportation, food, and water for the people living there.

A valley is the low-lying area between two mountains. Many times valleys also contained rivers as is the case for the world’s first four river- valley civilizations.

Features of a Civilization All civilizations have the following features:  1. They are cities- all civilizations have more than one city in them. Cities were forming at a rapid rate, because of a large surplus in food. Cities also served as centers of religion, government, and culture.  2. They have organized governments-organized governments allow for managing a society’s resources so that people can get the things they need to survive.  3. They have an established religion-religion is a set of beliefs about supernatural powers that created and rule the world. Religion in ancient times was often linked to governmental procedures. Religion often dictated who was in power.  4. They have people who specialize in jobs-due to a surplus in food products, the need for farmers decreased. This allowed for people to become specialized in specific areas, such as metal working, tool making, weaving, and soldiers.

Features of a Civilization Continued  5. They have social classes-social classes are groups of people that occupy different ranks or levels in society. Social classes consisted of high, middle, and low.  6. They have public works -public works often included large scale building projects such as roads, water systems, city walls, and granaries where food was stored. Public works benefited the society as a whole.  7. They have art and architecture -architecture was closely related to public works. Early people built grand temples, tombs, and palaces.  8. They have a system of writing- early writing systems varied from picture writing to symbols representing sounds and letters. Writing was initially invented to record the amount of grain grown. Eventually, laws, prayers, and ways of life was recorded. These writing left by early people has allowed modern people to understand what was left behind from early people’s civilizations.

The world’s 1 st River-valley civilizations: THERE WERE FOUR: 1) The Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia (SW Asia) 2) The Indus River in INDIA (Asia) 3) The Nile River Valley in EGYTP (Africa) 4) The Huang River in CHINA (Asia)

Mesopotamia

The Indus River Valley

The Nile River Valley

Huang River Valley